inclined to think that these large flocks were very leisurely moving southwards for the winter, influenced a good deal by the winds and the plentifulness of food. In southward migrations it is by no means uncommon for a certain proportion of old birds to accompany the first flights. In fact, the experience of a good many autumns on the Yorkshire coast has shown me that the first Grey Plovers, for example, to appear are old birds in small parties, still more or less in summer plumage. And the same with Sanderlings and Curlew Sandpipers.-HENRY H. SLATER (Wansford).

Sandwich Terns on the Upper Thames.-A visit from eight adult Sandwich Terns, on April 10th, was quite a novelty to this neighbourhood. They arrived before 9 a.m., and the greater part of the day was spent exactly opposite this house, sitting on the hand-rail of the bucks and the piles on the weir. The day was warm and bright, with a fresh westerly breeze, and the Terns were careful always to sit facing accurately to windward. At frequent intervals one or more would take short flights, in beats of perhaps 100 yards, in quest of fish, for which they plunged down from a fair height, with the wings about two-thirds expanded, and always side to wind. Early in the afternoon they moved half to three-quarters of a mile further up the river, where, there being no convenient perches, they spent, I believe, their whole time on the wing. About 4.45 p.m. six of them returned to the rail and piles on Marlow Weir; whether the other pair had separated voluntarily, or whether powder and shot had put an end to their wanderings, I do not know. During the morning any attempt by a second bird to share a pile already occupied by one had been successfully resented by the tenant, but now a pair shared a pile more than once, and they combined to prevent the intrusion of a third individual. I did not see them leave, but I satisfied myself, with the help of a good night-glass, before going to bed, that they were not roosting on the piles or elsewhere thereabouts, and have not seen or heard of them since. The Common Tern is entitled, I think, to be classed as an annual visitor to the Upper Thames, and the Little and Black Terns are also frequent visitors. The Arctic Tern, which is recorded in Clark-Kennedy's Birds of Berks and Bucks' as " occasionally obtained" in these counties, I have never myself seen on the river, or at least distinguished from Sterna fluviatilis; while the Sandwich Tern is not mentioned by him. Mr. Aplin, in his 'Birds of Oxfordshire,' mentions it as "a rare visitor," and enumerates about six examples obtained in the neighbourhood of Oxford between 1847 and 1879- These may all have come from the West, and did not necessarily pass this neighbourhood; while it seems natural to suppose that those which lately visited Marlow flew up wind from the mouth of the river. Another point noticeable about this visitation is the number of birds which appeared, forming the largest party of sea-birds that I have ever seen up the river, where such stragglers usually appear singly. — ALFRED HENEAGE COCKS (Great Marlow, Bucks).

[We have little doubt that these birds came up the Thames from the mouth of the river, for about that date we had reports of several large "Sea Swallows" being observed between Chertsey and Laleham. The species not being identified, we supposed them to be Common Terns.-ED.]

The Raven on Sheep Farms.-Mr. Salter, writing of the Raven in Mid-Wales, remarks (p. 139):-"There is a general impression amongst the farmers that the Raven will tamper with a sheep when in difficulties, and that its misdeeds at lambing-time are of the blackest description." This impression seems to be shared by ornithologists, for Mr. Howard Saunders refers to the Raven's "depredations among lambs, weakly ewes, and game," as an established fact (Manual of Brit. Birds,' p. 232); and Prof. Newton, though lending the weight of his own personal experience to the contrary opinion, nevertheless endorses the view that in the wilder and mountainous parts of Britain "considerable loss is inflicted by the Raven on the owners of sheep " ( Yarrell's Brit. Birds,' ed. 4, vol. ii. p. 260; and 'Dict. Birds,' p. 737, note). Without prejudice to the result of observations in other parts of Britain, I venture to express my firm belief that on hill-farms in the Highlands of Scotland our Raven is simply a scavenger, inflicting on sheep-owners no loss of any kind whatever. Practical work in a pastoral district, where Ravens have bred from immemorial time, has convinced me (1) that neither Crow nor Raven will approach a living sheep or lamb unless the animal be in articulo mortis; (2) that neither Crow nor Raven, albeit they pick out the eyes, will commence to tear a carcase till the animal has been dead for hours, sometimes for days; (3) that neither Crow nor Raven will meddle with a lambing ewe, even in the rare event of difficult parturition, it being their constant habit to wait on death. I class the birds together here because in practice one cannot distinguish their work, and I put the Crow first because, in comparison with the larger bird, I have found it bold, bloodthirsty, and persistent. For nine years past a pair of Ravens have made their head-quarters, and reared an annual brood, in the rocky escarpment of a green hill-face which rises abruptly above my house, and is heavily stocked with black-faced ewes. Other pairs breed in the wilder country to the north. Much of my own ground can be "spied " from the windows of the house, but I have traversed the whole of it at all times and seasons, and especially at lambing-time, when the Raven's alleged misdeeds are said to reach a climax of iniquity. Of such misdeeds I have found no trace. I have never seen a living sheep or lamb with a vacant orbit, except in a single case when the dying animal just breathed; I have never detected a sign of visceral disruption on a warm carcase, nor surprised the birds at work on anything but carrion; and I have known a lambing ewe labour heavily for a couple of hours quite unmolested, though t' expectant Crows were tearing at the placental membrane a moment. the passing shepherd had relieved and removed the ewe. In the sp

1892 the immediate neighbourhood of two pairs of Ravens was found compatible with eighteen pairs of twin lambs safely delivered and all surviving. The circumstance that an incoming tenant and a stock valuation made every living lamb at that particular time worth a possible 15s. should stand as a fairly practical test of my faith in the innocence of Ravens. Three facts in this connection are not, I think, sufficiently considered. (1) The rough-and-ready pathology of hill-sheep recognises no half-way house of sickness, with possible convalescence, between health and death; it must be one thing or the other. A sick sheep on the hill is to all intents and purposes a dead sheep, worth nothing but the fleece, at most the "braxy," and a careful shepherd should always anticipate the scavengers to this extent. The loss of an eye may add to the pangs of a dying animal, but it takes nothing from the owner of the flock. (2) Hill-ewes lamb easily, rapidly, and without assistance. Still-born lambs are rare, and ewes that

die in labour quite exceptional. The lamb is on its legs at once, and the ewe's awakened instinct of maternity constitutes a safeguard which must be seen to be believed. The stoop of the Golden Eagle at an unsuspected moment I should conceive to be irresistible, though I have never seen it; but mother ewes are much too quick for the more deliberate Crows, which, on all occasions when I have observed them, approach their quarry with considerable circumspection. (3) The natural death-rate of a hill-flock provides carrion enough and to spare for many scavengers. Taking the distribution of sheep-ground in the Highlands at from three to eight acres per sheep, and the normal death-rate of adult sheep-not counting hoggs that die at winterings-at from 5 to 15 per cent. per annum, we get an average carrion output of a dozen carcases per square mile per annum, thirty square miles giving a carcase for every day in the year, and this without reckoning the death-rate of lambs from birth (April) to weaning (August), which is understated at 10 per cent. for those four months alone. The numbers actually exceed this calculation on many west-coast farms, where a heavy death-rate follows in the wake of a heavy stock; but in any case Ravens need not kill their own meat, for nature keeps them constantly supplied. Sometimes a rotting carcase prompts one to believe that the supply is in excess of the demand.-ALLAN GORDON CAMERON (Barcaldine Castle, Ledaig, N.B.)

Larus ridibundus: Assumption of the Hood in Winter.-On Jan. 23rd last, a wild and boisterous day, with strong north-west wind and driving showers of sleet and hail, large flights of Gulls were blown inland, and were following the ploughs at work in the fields. Driving in the neighbourhood of Wells, Norfolk, I noticed, amongst a flock largely composed of Black-headed Gulls, one with an entirely black hood, which showed very plainly against the falling snow. I am aware that this early assumption of the breeding plumage has been observed at quite as early a date, but it is by no means of common occurrence.-H. W. FEILDEN.

The Birds of Surrey.-As I hope to publish a book on this subject as soon as the material collected is as complete as possible, I should be much obliged if any of your readers would draw my attention to any rare local occurrences; notes in local newspapers; local lists; old books or MSS. relating to Surrey birds; public or private local collections; names of any correspondents likely to assist; local names of species; personal observations, or any matters of local ornithological interest. I should also be glad to know whether the late Messrs. James Lewcock and Mansell, of Farnham, left any manuscripts or published lists of birds. Communications on any of these points will be gratefully accepted.-J. A. BUCKNILL (Hylands House, Epsom).

Sale of Great Auk and Egg.-The collection of birds' eggs and nests formed by Mr. Leopold Field was disposed of by auction at the well-known rooms of Mr. Stevens, in King Street, Covent Garden, on the 22nd and 23rd April last. The feature of the second day's sale was the inclusion of a very well-preserved specimen of Alca impennis (lot 260), with an egg (lot 261), both the property of Sir Frederick Milner, Bart., M.P., who inherited them with the collection of the late Sir William Milner. The history of lot 260, as printed in the sale catalogue, is altogether misleading, and the statement by Graham of York, to the effect that the bird was taken in the Orkneys, was (like other statements made by that dealer in regard to rare birds) wholly unreliable, although very likely credited by the late Sir William Milner. The specimen in question is in all probability the bird which Mr. A. D. Bartlett bought from a stranger for 66 a Northern Diver," and sold in September, 1844, to Shaw of Shrewsbury, who in turn disposed of it to Mr. Buddicom of Smethcote, Shrewsbury, from whom it passed, through Gardner, to Graham of York, who sold it to Sir William Milner as having been killed in Orkney! Having been recently re-stuffed by Cullingford of Durham, who certified to its being "a genuine specimen throughout, with not a single false feather in it," it was offered for sale as announced, on April 23rd. The bidding commenced at £100, and proceeded gradually to £350; at this point, no further bid being obtainable, the auctioneer declared it to have been bought in by the owner at £360, the reserved price not having been reached. We have since learnt that it has been sold for the Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh, for £350. With regard to the egg (lot 261) above mentioned, the sale catalogue gives no indication of its history; but we are enabled to state, on the authority of the late Mr. Robert Champley of Scarborough, that on the 10th August, 1860, he met Sir William Milner by appointment; that Sir William then showed him this egg, and allowed him to make a water-colour sketch of it (which we have seen), and at the same time informed him that while staying at Heidelberg (qu. Dusseldorf), in the autumn of 1847, he heard that M. ZOOLOGIST, THIRD SERIES, VOL. XIX.—MAY, 1895.

Perrot, a dealer in Paris, had this egg for sale; whereupon, on his way home through Paris, he purchased it for 200 francs (£8). This statement is confirmed by a letter from Sir William Milner himself, written before 1860 (presumably in 1859), and printed by Mr. Grieve in his quarto volume on the Great Auk (p. 105), with the not very material variation that the writer was in Dusseldorf when he first heard of this egg, not at Heidelberg, as Mr. Champley misunderstood him to state. It has now once more changed hands, having been sold on April 23rd for 180 guineas to the proprietor of The Edinburgh Castle' in the Mornington Road, London, not the most fitting shrine that could be desired for such an ornithological treasure.

FISHES.

Boar-fish at Teignmouth.-On April 9th a specimen of the Boar-fish, Capros apor, was sent to me for identification from Teignmouth, S. Devon, where this fish had suddenly appeared in large numbers. It was prior to 1844 considered a great rarity in British waters, but a Penzance trawler, in July of that year, found them plentifully near the Runnel Stone, close to Land's End, and they are usually to be obtained just there. The specimen before me measures about 6 in. in length, and the curiously-hinged snout is capable of extension to the extent of an inch and a half.-E. AUGUSTUS BOWLES (Myddelton House, Waltham Cross, Herts).

[Attains a length of seven inches, and is called "Boar-fish" from the shape of the snout, which is capable of being greatly protruded. Small mollusca and crustacea have been found in the stomachs of those examined. First noticed as a British fish in 1825, when a specimen was captured in Mount's Bay. In 1833 some were taken at Bridgewater; in 1836, one at Teignmouth; and in March, 1842, one caught at Brighton was considered of sufficient rarity to be forwarded to Her Majesty the Queen. Since July, 1844, when about 200 were taken in a trawl off the Runnel Stone, it has been met with on various parts of the coast of Devon and Cornwall, and is now reported to be locally common between March and October.-ED.]

SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON.

April 4th, 1895.-Mr. C. B. CLARKE, F.R.S., President, in the chair. Graf zu Solms Laubach, and Messrs. C. A. Barber, S. T. Dunn, J. D. Haviland, and A. P. Young were admitted, and the Rev. A. Thornley, J. W. Carr, and W. H. Wilson Elliott were elected Fellows.

On behalf of Mr. W. B. Hemsley, Dr. O. Stapf exhibited some new plants from the Solomon Islands, collected by the Rev, R, B, Comins.